Traveling work support



y 1945. H. H. HARRIS 2,379,960

TRAVELING WORK SUPPORT Filed Aug. 5, 1942 2 Sheet-Sheet 1 l .|:.l-

' T9 96 L q 7 INVENTOR HENRY H- HARR/s ATTORNEYS I July 10, 1945. H, H. HARRIS 6 TRAVELING WORK SUPPORT Filed Aug. 5, 1942 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 lNVENTOR HENRY H. HARE/S ATTORNEY Patented Jul 10, 1945 i AVELING- WORK SIJPlOR/I Henry Harris, Champaign, Ill. Appl can Au gu st 5, 1942, Serial No. same 5 Claims. (c1. 198- -13 1) My invention relatesgenerally to work supports for use in heat treating furnaces. In particular,

my invention relates to work supports adapted to be moved througha number of treating chambers or compartments, in horizontal-chamberfheata treating .furna oes of the endless-overhead-conveyor type.

Certam treatments, for metals and metal alloys arecycl'ical; that is, the work being trea-tedpasses througha cycle in which it is alternately heated and cooled. The various heat-treating chambers. quenching baths, and the like, are spaced apart from one another, and the work must be sul ported during the treatments and moved from one chamberto another, as by means of an end- ,less -overhead-conveyor type of mechanism. My invention does not relate to the furnace construction nor to the conveying mechanism, but onlyto the traveling work supports.

U The work supports are subjected to thesame 'heats, moreor less intense, the same cooling quenchings, the same reheatings and recoolings as the work itself, and work SUDDOIt S, as formerly known, were constructed of high heatand corrosion-resisting although these traveling metal alloys, the thermal shocks incident-to the cyclical, treatments materially shortened their useful lives caused work stoppages, and neces sitated too frequent replacement. l W The main object of my invention is the provision of a long lastingsupport for work that is to 1 be moved from treatment to treatment, Traveling work supports per se are well known, not

only in the heat treatment of metals and metal alloys but, alsoinnthe glass industry andinthe treatment of ceramics, and while, for convenience, I will describe my invention herein as applied. to the treatment of metals or metallic alloys; my invention is not to be so limited inits usage; as it is equally applicable to otherindustries. I

9 Another. object of my invention is the provision pot .a work supportand means to suspend same from thefconventional overhead endless conveyor type of moving means. I

Another object of my invention is the provision of a work support,iof skeleton, openwork formation, shaped to receive and secure thereon the work to be treated.

Another object of my invention is the provision V of a work supporting platform, the sides and ends of which have means formed thereon to receive and securethe work being treated.

Among other objects of my invention arethe provision of a work supportof, the character describedwhich is composed of a plurality of parts,

anism (not shown).

and the whichis flexible in ma nwhich the parts a re removably secured togethenin which worn or;

damaged parts may be individually replaced without damage-to any other parts; which will resist the thermal shocks, resulting from the extreme temperaturevariations during the cycle; and on 1 w which the e against accidental displacementwork being treated may be locked ment in the cycle.

Other objects of my invention will in. part be obvious, and still others will be specifically pointed out belowin connection with the following description of anillustrative embodiment.

Inthe drawings annexed hereto and forming a part hereof, H t Figure 1 is anend elevation of one form of device constructed according to and embodying my invention, a portion of one of the hanger links being broken away; l

Fig. 2 is a side elevational vew, also partly in section, of, the device of Fig. l; f t H t Fig. 3 isavertical section through the tubular end support alongtheline 3-3 of Fig.2? f

Fig. 4 is a topplan view of the support platform along the line 4 -4 of Fig; 1;

1 5 is a side elevationalview of one of the straps components, of the support platform; t (Fig; 6 is a top plan view, partly in section, of a .Figu'lis asectionalong the line 1 of Fig. 6. ,My new and improved, work support, indicated generally by reference numeral), comprises a plurality of hanger bars I2, l2, which project up through the slotted roof in theilconventional heat-treating furnaces ofthe endless overheadconveyor type. Hanger bars l2; l2 may be suitablyapertured near the upper ends thereof, as

at M, "for securement to the, conveyinginech A vertically apertured saddle block I8 is provided for each hanger bar, the bottom of which is flat top of whichis concavely curved, as at 20. Blocks [8, 'IBreceive thestems of the hanger bars l2, l2 therethrough, and when the blocks are threaded onto the hanger bars I2, the flat undersides of the blocks will come to rest on the underside of the barjcaps 16 (see Figs. 11 and?) to form a seatingl A; hollow tube 22 is provided, of circular section, having a number of diametrically opposed registering apertures 24, 24 therein extendinglengthwise of thetube, the apertures 24, 2 4 permitting tube 22 tobefthreaded onto hanger bars [2, IZQThus, as tube22 is threaded 9 NT OFFICE-- 1 during movepair of strap members, in spaced relation; and,

At the lower ends thereof, bars I2 are provided with fiat-caps [6,15 e tend ing outwardly therefrom forming inverted T-bars.

by both bars.

onto bars l2, l2 it passes down the length thereof and is received and supported atop the concaved a circular opening therethrough, said open ing 30 being slightly wider in diameter. than the. diameter of cross tube 22, so as to be threadabl'e on the tube. The lower end 32 of 'eaohhanger link 26 may also be enlarged, and has anelliptical opening 34 therethrough. Links 26,26 are arranged and threaded onto the cross-tube. 22;

in pairs, that is, two hanger links 26, 2 6 are threaded onto the cross-tube at a time, thedistance between each the length ofv the end tube components of'my support, the reason for. which will appear'below,

I; have described my platform herein as'adapted to support a gun barrel, or other work, having a square butt portion atv the end thereof, although my' invention is adaptedto support work of different shapes during the cyclical treatment. The. worksupporting. platform 35 of' my invention, as illustrated in this embodiment, is square, and comprises two tubular end members 38, 38 which form two opposite sides of the platform, and two pairs of side-straps 40, 42- whichform the other two opposite sides of and complete the open-work platform having a square opening 6i! in the center thereof. I The end or front and rear-members 3B, .38 are of hollow tubular construction, formed as by casting or otherwise, the extremities 46 thereof being reduced in size and deformed into elliptical section, so as to fit into similarly shaped openings 56, 34 in the side bars and hanger links respectively. v I l 1 i The side bars 40, 42 are provided and arranged in pairs. Each pair of sidebars 40, 42' comprises aninner bar 4|] and an outer bar 42', both of which are of the same size, shape and thickness. The bars are thin, flat and relatively elongated, curving downwardly slightly and spaced'from each other by anumber' of small projections 10, "H3 formed on the sides thereof. Each pair of barsis interconnected, the top ofythe outer bar 42 being notched at 50 in the center theroffto receive a shelf 52 extending out from the center vof the inner bar 40. Shelf. 52 rests on the notched portion 50 of the outer bar, so that any weight on one bar is distributed between and supported Elliptical openings 56, 5B are formed. in the ends of each'of the side bars 40, 42 sized toreoeive therewithin the reduced extremities. of theend tubes 38.

. Platform 36 may be assembled. by sliding the .ends of the. side-bar pairs over the extremities 46'oftubes 38, shoulders 62, 62 on the-tubes act,- ing as stops to limit the extent of movement. The platform may then be suspended. from crosstub.e.22v by means of'the hanger links 26, one at each corner of the platform, the lower end of each. link. being threaded onto the end of. the tubes 38. after, the side bars 40, 42 have been threaded thereonto. The hanger links. 26, 26 thus serve to maintaintheside bars and the end members. in. their interfitted relation, and are pair being determined by themselves kept from slipping off the tubes by means of lock wire strips 80 welded or otherwise secured to the neck. Each pair of hanger links 26, 26 suspended from cross-tube 22 supports one side of the platform The hanger links may be threaded onto the cross-tube before the hanger bars are passed through the tube, or they may be arranged on the cross-tube together,

The square butt 8| of the gun barrel may be passed up from below the platform through the square opening 60 in the platformes indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 4. The=butt is then turned degrees in either direction and lowered until the corners 82, 82 of the butt will rest on the center ofeach of the four sides of the platform portion. The tops of the shelves 52, 52 may be flattened: and notched as at 84 and the top of end tubes at the center thereof may be notched as at86, so as to form a seat for the gun butt, havingthe same shape as the gun butt. As necessary, the sides and ends of the platform 36 provided, having a number of spaced apertures 94 therein, extending longitudinally-of the" plate in the crowned center thereof. Plate 92 is threaded down over the upper ends of hanger bars l2, l2 and rested on the enlarged top ends 28, 28 of the hanger links. As the work'is moved from heating chamberto quenchingbath, the the splash plate 92 acts to preventisplattering of the bath contents. Another plate 96, similarly apertured, may. be providedfland disposed near the top of the hangerbars and below the openings l4, l4. therein, to minimize heat loss through the opening in" the furnace roof My; work; support as. a whole is: composed of 1a number of individual elements. Failure of, any

the end elements of the platform and thepaired arrangement of the-side bar'components makes for. increased weight supporting-ability of the worksupport and. increases resistance to ther mal shock. The suspension er 'theplatforrn from th'e cross-tube by means of the hanger linkspefmitsthe components; of thesupport as a whole to shift and swing, thereby; reducing strains-and friction, and the openwork nature ofthe support permits, full. and uninterrupted flow of j heat to and around'thework;

Icl'aiin: v V VI. A movable work support for use in heat treating furnaces of the horizontalechamber, endless-overhead-conveyor." type comprising a platform of openwork'formation having apairfof tubular end members, a pairof' sideinembers, each pair of the side; elements comprising" two bars, the side members being'threaded onto the end members, and hangerlinkmeans to support the platform, thelower. ends. ofsaid links being threaded onto the end members over the side members and the upper'ends of said linksb'ein'g secured to the moving means.

2. In a furnace of th-ehorizonta-l c'rhar'nber,end less-overhead-conveyor type, a movable" work support" comprising a platform and-meansito support same, the support means comprising a plurality of hanger bars, a cross tube secured to the hanger bars, a plurality of hanger links depending from me cros tube, and said hanger links being secured to the platform. v I

3. In a, furnace of the horizontal chamber, endless-overhead conveyor type, a horizontally disposed worksupporting platform the marginal components of which are formed to receive vand secure thereon the work to be treated, means to maintain the platform under suspension com prising a, plurality of vertically depending links secured at their lower ends to the platform and at their upper ends to means to removably secure the links to the conveying means, said securing means comprising a horizontally disposed member having vertically extending h'anger barsfsecured to the conveying means.

'4. A movable work support for use in heat treating furnaces of the horizontal-chamber,

5. A movable work support as in claim 4; in

which one of the interfitted side member elements is notched, and another of the elements is provided with a laterally extending shelf fitting Within the notch and resting thereon, the shelf being shaped to receive the work to be supported thereon.

HENRY H. HARRIS. 

